


Sticky Fingers

by Graceless Nerd (FayTheGay)



Series: Daula the half-orc's Adventures [1]
Category: Dungeons & Dragons (Roleplaying Game)
Genre: Fights, Gen, Theft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-15
Updated: 2018-06-15
Packaged: 2019-05-23 12:17:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,812
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14934137
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FayTheGay/pseuds/Graceless%20Nerd
Summary: Young Daula is offered a bag of gold to steal something. aka, the first time Daula was paid to steal something.





	Sticky Fingers

The three mismatched siblings skirted through the streets of Malgorn. For most, the city was less than favorable. Alleys were often paved in red and sounds could be heard from several establishments that never should have fallen to the ears of a child. 

Some called it a rathole, a place where people went when they were too poor to go anywhere else. The siblings never saw it that way. It was their kingdom and they ruled it. In their minds. 

“Ekthor!” The half-elf child grabbed the hand of their elder tiefling sister, tugged her up on a pile of abandoned crates that threatened to teeter under the both of their weights. The younger of the two began to play on her lyre without waiting for the older to begin. The half-orc sibling leaned back against the nearby market stand while his sisters began their show. Ekthor held a name card in one hand, a promise of pleasure to anyone that seeked their mother out. In the other was a flute, smooth metal that the half-orc had obtained for her a few months back. He had been tempted to keep it for himself, but when he saw his sister’s eyes light at the sight he hadn’t been able to refuse her. 

While his sisters played he hummed along, knowing the tune as well as any other that they knew. And the crowd? It trickled in. One after the next. The marketplace had been decently packed in the midafternoon, full enough that it wouldn’t be overtly noticed when the five-year old half-orc slipped back into the crowd, abandoning his sisters to their show. As he moved he managed to slip a small watch off of a very distracted woman and find his way to a booth selling a large assortment of children’s toys. It wasn’t a harsh market in this area, the streets littered with children sharing similar heritage to him and his sisters. Most of them weren’t fortunate enough to have a home, but it was how things were and he had his mother and his sisters.

“Those girls are my sisters,” Daula beamed happily, preying on the older half-orc woman’s half-enjoyment of the show the two children were putting on.

“Your sisters?”

“Yep,” Daula picked up a toy car off the stand and ran it down the side. “The pointy eared one’s my twin Willow and the red one’s our big sister.”

“Is your mother a silk woman?”

“Mhm.” He responded, dropping his hand down and slipping the wooden toy into his sidepouch as he turned sideways to look at the crowd. “We come out to find people for her. Always new business in the market.”

“Always new business either way.” The woman mused from behind the booth, voice so low he almost didn’t hear the comment. “Do you want anything, boy?”

“Only looking.” Daula responded, poking and prodding at the toys a bit longer before abandoning the booth all together. Willow would hopefully like the car, and if she didn’t Ekthor would take it. Ekthor always did. The music from the sisters was still strong and he was tempted to join in when the sudden clasp of a hand on his shoulder stopped him and he blinked. Frowned. Turning around, he tilted his head upward to meet the cyan gaze of an elderly elf with pale blue -almost purple- skin. Daula knew the woman in passing, she ran one of the clothing stands that their mother had taken them to a few different times. The name was lost to him. Not that he ever would have been expected to know it. 

“Come with me.” The elderly woman ordered and he thought about it for a moment. She was small and frail. If needed, he could easily overpower her. She was just an elf. Throwing a final glance at the show his sisters were performing, he trailed after the woman, allowing her to lead him into an alleyway that would’ve been shrouded them completely in a different time of day. As it was, it left them alone except for the occasional passerby that wandered past the mouth of the derelict area. 

“What do you want?” Daula crossed his arms over his chest, puffed up to show off his full size and she smiled widely in response. 

“You have greedy fingers, little half-orc.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” He denied bluntly, eyes narrowing as the woman raised an eyebrow at him. As though she didn’t believe his lie. It was a rule, though. If he stole, he wasn’t to say he did it. Admitting guilt was the worst thing he could do. 

“I need you to get something for me, boy.”

“What?” His gaze moved to the small pouch she procured. It looked heavy, like something he would have tried to steal off of someone’s belt when he was younger. Not because of the contents, but just the look. It looked soft and smooth. Like something him and Willow could play with. Something his mother would praise him for. “Why?”

“If you get me what I need,” The elf continued, shaking the pouch gently between delicate fingers. “I’ll give you this.”

Admittedly, the idea of stealing it from the woman was much more appealing but her giving it to him willingly? All he needed to do was take something?

“What is it?” Daula shifted on his feet, smiling at the grin he received from the woman as she threaded her fingers through extremely long snowy white hair, returning her pouch to her belt. 

“A necklace with a silver amulet attached to it.” The woman responded, tone soft and sad as her milky white eyes flicked across him. “If you can.”

“I can take anything from anyone,” Daula wasn’t sure why but the elf’s tone made him want to prove to her he could. Despite the rugged appearance, he believed that she was… powerful. The kind of power that he had seen at home once or twice.  _ Wealth _ . This elf came from wealth. She probably even possessed a last name. A noble name. “Where is it?”

“Good boy.” The elf praised him and he scowled in response, “The man that sells the gems in the alleys-”

“Merek.” Daula had stolen from him… once. The dwarf had come after him with a butcher knife and a threat to never do it again. 

Merek had missed when he grabbed his coin purse at the end of the confrontation. 

“You know him?”

“I can do it.” The half-orc responded, meeting her gaze, “Will you be at your stand tomorrow morning?”

“Yes. But no later. I’m leaving town tomorrow. Don’t fail me.”

“I won’t.” He swore, turning to make his way from the alley. 

“Don’t break it.” The warning echoed after him as he took back towards the marketplace. 

Willow and Ekthor weren’t playing anymore and he couldn’t see them. Either they had gone towards the edge of town, or they’d headed home. Either was a possibility. Unless they were lost in the dwindling crowd. Sometimes they would play with others but they generally avoided that. It was beneficial now that they weren’t drawing attentions, though. Merek would be a problem. 

Slipping into the dwindling crowd, Daula found his way through the marketplace. Merek was nowhere to be seen. Not in the immediate vicinity anyways. It wasn’t uncommon for him to be gone during daylight, though. His business dealings generally happened in the dark of night. At a time when his less favorable activities would go unacknowledged with the local guards. So Daula waited. 

For a short while, he took to the boxes where his sisters had played earlier in the evening, playing a jaunty tune that left a few of the locals humming along. The one-man-show didn’t go nearly as long as it may have with his sisters around, but he hadn’t planned for it to. All he was doing was wasting time. The copper thrown at his feet was a nice touch as well. Maybe he could buy Willow some sweets. 

When dusk began to approach the atmosphere of the town shifted. Mother always told them to be home before dark, that dark held dangers. It also held the most fun. Out of the three of them, he was the most frequent in staying out late. It wasn’t often, and mother was always angry at him for it. But it was fun when he didn’t draw the wrong kinds of attention. 

Tonight would be a bit different. Stealing on impulse was always easier for him than planning but he had a deal to uphold, and a reward for doing it. Not to mention… he really wanted to prove he could do it. To himself and the strange woman. 

Daula listened closely around him, looking to the whispers from the shadows for an idea as to where Merek was this night. It was a group of humans in a corner that spilled the information for him. They had laughed when he outright asked and wished him luck. 

Not that he needed that.

A few minutes later he found himself outside of an old abandoned house, the air stank of something he couldn’t quite place and a faintly familiar dark elf slipped out the front, blade peeking out from beneath his cloak. 

“Move, kid.” The man shoved him to the side and he glared after the man as he disappeared down the edge of the street. It was dark out at this point, candlelight coming from one of the boarded up front windows. The curtain covering the door wasn’t much of a barrier as he slipped through the opening, pressing his back to the inside wall away from the candlelight. The stink was stronger now and left him feeling a bit woozy. 

There were three others in the room, two were standing side by side and talking lowly to each other while the dwarf actively paced in front of them. The bit that Daula could see of him was covered in a basic hide breastplate that Daula had seen the newer Silk Guardians wear when they came to guard his mother.

The amulet was there too. In the assortment of loose chains that Merek kept around his neck, he saw an almost glowing amulet resting in the center of his chest. The amulet and its chain were silver, marked with a waterfall etched into the center of the pendant. 

None of the present people noticed him, which he had hoped for. Now that he was there… well, he needed a plan. Merek wasn’t going to appreciate seeing him again but that would be something for the Silk Guardians to deal with. 

Daula stayed there, pressed into the dark at the entrance while he waited. The plan was broad, but it would be simple enough. The butcher knife wasn’t in view, something that soothed his discomfort a bit. Eventually, the pair left and he was alone. Merek tugged at his beard as her moved to the table behind him, counting through the gold pile there and humming to himself. 

“One more for the night. She’ll be a prize too. Ten gold pieces.” Merek was seemingly speaking to himself as he tugged his necklaces off, set them in a pile on the table. “Won’t be needing these for the bit.” Then he left the table, brushed past where Daula was pressed against the wall at the door. 

Was it fate? Or a scheme? If it was… well he could move fast. 

_ Get the amulet, get out. _ Daula darted across the floor and grabbed the amulet carefully from the pile and draping the oddly warm silver across his neck, tucking the metal into his shirt. Everything was fine.

Until a heavy weight slammed into the back of his head, causing dark spots to dance across his vision as he stumbled forward into the table. He didn’t think as he kicked backwards for the dwarf, missing out on hitting any solid surface as he stumbled to the side, whipping his head back and scrambling backwards across the floor as the ugly face of Merek stared down at him, a rage brewing deep in his eyes. 

“You stupid little half-orc brat!”

“Hi, Merek.” Daula greeted meekly as his eyes darted across the floor for anything resembling a weapon again. Nothing. Merek on the other hand, Merek was armed now. The metal of the butcher knife glinted dangerously in the candlelight as the dwarf began to move towards him, mouth curling cruelly and murder in his eyes. “Look- can we talk about this?”

“No talking for the half-orc brat.” 

“I was worried you’d say that,” Daula responded with none of the humor he tried to muster, ripping his legs out of the way as the dwarf attempted to stomp down on them. Oh yeah, Merek was angry. He’d expected that. He should’ve waited. Let the man sleep then rob him.  _ Stupid _ . 

“Can’t we fight like real men? This isn’t fair!” He fumbled to his feet and dodged back as the knife was swung at him again, this time it caught him across the front of his chest and caused him to shout in in pain as the amulet managed to keep back the worst of the damage. 

“Hey!” Daula had pressed himself against the wall again, eyes widening at the sudden sound of- was that  _ Willow _ ? “Leave my brother alone!”

“Willow!” Where was Ekthor? There was no way Willow was alone. His sisters were inseperable. 

“This little fool is your brother? Always knew his mother was a whore.” 

Taking advantage of the distraction, Daula pushed through his own pain and launched himself at the dwarf from the side, slamming his head right into the skull of the dwarf who was caught off guard enough that it sent them both stumbling and landing in a messy heap on the floor. 

“She prefers the term  _ Lady of Silk _ .” An angry Ekthor hissed out, tail whipping him in the back of the head as a large stick came out of nowhere and smacked the disoriented dwarf in the head. The commotion was enough for him to fumble away, backing off as his sisters closed in on the dwarf who was laughing, holding up the knife. 

“You little bastards. All of you. What are you goin’ to do? Kill a man?”

“You sure seemed content killing my brother.” Ekthor held the stick in front of Willow who was shifting uneasily, irritably. 

“Your brother is a thief you stupid little-”

“Choose your next words wisely, dwarf.” The deep crimson red tiefling warned the dwarf as Willow turned around, looked across the space between them to meet her twin’s gaze. 

_ I’ll live. _

_ Idiot. _

A sudden cry tore from the half-elf’s lips when the dwarf moved, just out of Daula’s vision. Then, he watched with horror, as his sister fell forward, gasping sharply as… the knife. His vision blurred as he crawled across the floor, ignoring his own injuries to join his sister’s side as her eyes flashed with fury.

Something akin to shock flooded his system as the amulet heated up again and his sister reached around to pull the knife from her own back. 

It was awesome, and disturbing. The blade was covered in his sister’s red blood and her white shirt was quickly getting drenched in red as she launched herself at the dwarf, slammed his own knife in his chest. 

“Willow!”

“You weak, weak, fool. Can’t even kill three kids, can you? No one calls my brother a brat but me!” 

Silence fell across the space except Willow’s ragged breathing and Ekthor ripping off her own shirt to make a makeshift bandage. 

Daula moved to his sister’s side and tugged her off the dead dwarf, pulled her unconscious form into his lap as he pressed his hand against the wound. “The woman.”

“What woman?”

“The woman- the one I was helping. She can fix her. I know it.”

Daula stared at his elder sister, challenging her with his stare before she nodded, tears in her eyes. 

“We can’t be seen. Not here.”

The two of them wrapped the injury to their best of their abilities, it definitely didn’t stop the bleeding but it did slow it. Then, heaving her up between them, they began their trip towards town. 

“What did you  _ do _ , Dal?”

“The woman, the one I talked to… she wanted the necklace.”

“And you decided that stealing it from her was a good idea?”

“She’s giving me gold for it!” Daula defended himself, shifted his hold on his sister slightly and breathed in through his nose. “I know you don’t like it, but I do it either way. Least this way I’m doin’ something good.”

“Almost dying isn’t a good thing, Dal.” Her voice was almost a hiss as the both of them caught sight of a guard rounding a corner next to them. Breathing in sharply, they ducked back behind a couple of trash cans, Daula all but draping their dying sister over his shoulder. The knelt there for a solid thirty seconds before the guard passed. Willow made a small moaning noise as they crawled out of their hiding place.

Wood clattered as Ekthor moved too sharply and knocked a couple of crates over. The guard stopped in his tracks, turned around. “What’re you doing over there!”

“Nothing- nothing, sir.” Daula held Willow close to his side as the human guard moved closer, eyes narrowed. “We are just trying to get home. I swear.”

“Kids ain’t supposed to be out this late, demon-stock.”

“I know, sir.” Ekthor continued diplomatically as Daula struggled to hold Willow’s weight under him. They needed to  _ move _ . “Promise. We’re going home. Just lost track of time. Me and my siblings help Ador with his hounds, sir. We’ll be out of sight quick as can be. I promise.”

The human guard glared at them and Daula was itching to grab one of the bottles off the ground to throw at him. They needed to move. Willow was dying.

“Stay out of Ador’s drinks, brats. They’re no good for you.” The guard finally conceded and turned around, leaving them to fumble to get their little sister under them and stumble down the street.

“Do you even know where she lives? Please tell me you know where she lives.” It was a clear afterthought of little faith. Like he hadn’t thought about that, like he was dumb. Well… maybe he would own up to that, but it was common sense. Not being smart. 

“Of course I do. My shows aren’t just for mom, you know. The view is great for looking and the woman is local.” 

They managed to get through town without too much more trouble. A couple of shady men saw them but took little interest, probably seeing them as some of the homeless kids that roamed the streets after the sun set. Those kids were armed, though. They were an actual threat. If anyone saw them as anything else, they would be in trouble.

“Willow, stay with us. You hear me, sis? Stay with us. We’re gonna save you.” Daula glanced at Ekthor, heart aching at the concern in their older sister’s expression. This was his fault, all because he couldn’t defend himself. All because he didn’t know how to fight back. 

_ Coward _ .

“Open the door!” Daula began to beat on it. There was a moment of silence before metal clanked and a tired looking elf opened the door, eyes widening as the two siblings dragged their unconscious sister through the doorway. “Save her.”

“I- what happened? Lay her down,” The elf continued, rummaging around for something. “Move.” The elf pushed past them and rolled Willow onto her stomach.

“Merek.”

“I didn’t know- if I’d known he’d attack you like that, I never would have sent you. He’s supposed to be understanding of children.” Daula’s heart thrummed in his ears as the elf pulled the torn shirt off their sister’s back, pressed her palm to the injury. “I’m sorry. She’ll live, though. Mother, be kind.” The elf continued muttering to herself, too low for him to hear past his own anxiety because she was so  _ pale. _ She shouldn’t have been that pale. Yet again the amulet was heating against his chest and he flinched, tugged it out of his shirt and over his head. It was glowing. The amulet was glowing. 

“She isn’t breathing.” The words didn’t register with him, though. There was something about the amulet… something he couldn’t place. But he knew what he needed to do. 

Quietly, he reached out and spread the amulet across their sister. Then, suddenly, a bright glow flooded across Willow’s unconscious form and she gasped a sharp breath. 

“Willow,” Ekthor tugged their sister into her lap as the elf picked the amulet up, wiping it off carefully on her cloak. “You’re alive…”

“She saved him,” Daula looked over at the elf who nodded a bit, face paler than it should have been. 

“She doesn’t… but she did.” There was an almost haunted look in her expression, the look of someone who had lost someone. A look he’d seen on people in the past. 

“Who are you?”

The elf bit her lip and smiled tiredly, “Shivor. Shivor Farlight. Thank you… I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have sent you, I should have-”

“It was me, not you.” Daula crawled over to his sisters, peeled aside the bloodied shirt on her back. 

“Will. Willow, you gotta wake up. C’mon, sis. Come back to us.”

The skin was scarred where the knife had plunged in and he bit his lip, wondered if it would ever go away. 

“You can stay here tonight if you need to. No reason for the guards to catch you. You know what they do.”

Daula nodded, looked at Ekthor who met his gaze. Whatever she was thinking… it wasn’t something he could see, something he could read. But she was angry with him. That, he knew. Which wasn’t really fair, because he hadn’t told them to follow him. 

“How’s your chest?” She asked him instead and he frowned, tugged down the front of his shirt to see that his own injury had stopped healing but was still open. It needed to be patched up, but he didn’t want to ask the elf- Shivor, to help. 

“A problem for tomorrow.” He responded, “Sleep. I’ll watch her. I know you didn’t sleep yesterday.” 

Ekthor looked at him with a certain wariness before laying down beside Willow, tucking their little sister under her arm and closing her eyes.

At some point in the night, he dozed off. 

When they woke, they were alone. Shivor was gone, but they were alive. 

Sitting on the table were three of the gold pouches he had been offered the night before, his own injury closed and gone as if it had never been there. 


End file.
